Thursday, January 23, 1997
FILM:
Actor-director prefers behind-the-scenes role in biographical
moviemakingBy Aimee Phan
Daily Bruin Contributor
To act or direct, that is the question. It is also a difficult
decision for most people in Hollywood to make. Some directors would
love to take center stage and act, while some actors would relish
the chance to take charge and direct. Then there are the few lucky
people who have the opportunity to do both.
While actor and director Lord Richard Attenborough (he was
ennobled by the Queen of England in 1993) is one of those lucky
people, he would much rather stay in the director’s chair
permanently.
"If someone asked me to make a choice between acting and
directing," Attenborough says, "I wouldn’t have a moment’s
hesitation. I would want to direct."
Having directed such acclaimed films as "Chaplin,"
"Shadowlands," and the Oscar-winning "Gandhi," it is clear that he
made the right choice. His newest film is the World War I romance
"In Love and War," which stars Chris O’Donnell and Sandra Bullock.
Based on writer Ernest Hemingway’s real life love affair with a
nurse that reportedly spurned him to write some of his best novels,
the film hopes to receive the same critical response as the
director’s previous films.
Initially an actor after studying at the Royal Academy of
Dramatic Arts, Attenborough became dissatisfied with the kinds of
roles he was receiving and was seeking a more fulfilling way to
express himself.
The idea to direct films didn’t come until 1962 when
Attenborough read about the life of Mahatma Gandhi. Attenborough
became determined to make a film on the Indian spiritual leader’s
life, a dream project that took 20 years to bring to the
screen.
His experience making this epic movie also addicted him to
directing.
"I was nearly 60 when I made Gandhi and I realized that this is
what I would love to do with the rest of my life," remembers
Attenborough. "I didn’t find acting sufficient (anymore). I can’t
write, I can’t paint, I don’t compose music or know how to sculpt.
But I can communicate to people through directing actors. I learned
I could express my feelings through filmmaking."
Along with Gandhi, Attenborough has also explored other
influential figures in history through his films, bringing the
lives of silent movie star Charlie Chaplin, former Prime Minister
of England Winston Churchill, and writer C.S. Lewis to the
screen.
"I’m interested in major figures," explains Attenborough, "I
don’t enjoy fiction a great deal. Through biography, I am able to
examine great figures in all sorts of areas who have influenced our
lives."
For his next film, "In Love and War," Attenborough explores
another important icon in history, writer Ernest Hemingway. Set in
northern Italy during the first World War, the film tells the story
of 18-year-old Hemingway’s love affair with his dedicated,
26-year-old nurse, Agnes Von Kurowsky.
Attenborough was intrigued by the chance to depict an event in
Hemingway’s life that obviously changed the famous writer’s views
on love and the destructions of war.
"I loved the idea of doing a film on a man who eventually
altered very much our attitudes and views on relationships and
people," Attenborough says. "It was fascinating to me, having read
the classics, to have enormous fun examining how this whole thing
happened, who he was, where he came from, what influenced him and
determined his actions."
Although "In Love and War" is primarily a love story,
Attenborough also enjoys educating through his movies, hoping that
audiences will not only be entertained by the film but also learn
more about certain political issues.
"I can express my political feelings through my movies, which is
what I love about filmmaking," says Attenborough. "In ‘Cry
Freedom,’ I wanted to protest against apartheid and in ‘Oh What a
Lovely War,’ I wanted to protest against war and slaughter. I made
‘Gandhi’ because I wanted to protest against prejudice and empire
colonialism."
Wanting to make another political drama, Attenborough’s next
dream project would like to focus on the tumultuous life of Thomas
Payne, one of the leading revolutionaries during the American
Revolution against Britain. Attenborough admired Payne’s strong
philosophical beliefs and idealistic convictions.
"Payne was really the first great philosophical radical,"
Attenborough explains. "His radicalism helped form the United
States and he helped to write the Declaration of Independence."
With this and many other directing projects Attenborough hopes
to work on, there doesn’t seem to be much time for him to return to
his acting roots very often. In fact, the last 20 years has only
seen him act in two films, "Jurassic Park" for his good friend
Steven Spielberg and the remake of "Miracle on 34th Street," in
which he played Kris Kringle. He will be reprising his role as the
ambitious millionaire in "The Lost World," Spielberg’s sequel to
"Jurassic Park."
But don’t look for Attenborough to make frequent trips in front
of the camera.
"It is more important for me (to continue) to direct and
produce," says Attenborough. "If I can go on directing, I’d much
rather direct. This is what I love doing. I love making my
statements and observations through directing and producing
movies."
FILM: "In Love and War" opens in theaters this Friday.
New Line Cinema
Richard Attenborough, the acclaimed director of "Gandhi,"
directs "In Love and War."